FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Weed teams from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas recently finished second overall and first and second regionally in the National Weed Contest of North America.

U of A teams from the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences finished first and second in the Southern Region while Team 1 placed second nationally. The competition at the Western Agricultural Research Center of Ohio State University included 208 students from 25 universities in the United States and Canada.

Teams were required to perform individual written calibration tests, weed identification, herbicide identification by symptomology and spectrum of activity, farmer problem diagnosis and team sprayer calibrations. Each team member was required to solve one of three farmer issues — one associated with corn and two with soybeans.

Nationally, Arkansas finished second to Purdue University and ahead of the University of Nebraska. Zachary Lancaster was the top overall scorer and will be recognized at the joint meetings of the Southern Weed Science Society and the Weed Science Society of America in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in February.

In the Southern Region, U of A students claimed seven of the top nine individual positions, including Lancaster, Steven Martin, Matheus Palhano, Christopher Meyer, Christopher Rouse and Ryan Miller placing first through sixth, respectively, and Travis Jones in ninth. Jones was the top scorer in weed identification, Martin in written calibration tests and Lancaster in farmer problem diagnosis.

In the undergraduate level, Nicholas Steppig was the top overall scorer while also winning the weed identification and written calibration tests categories.

Arkansas has won the Southern Region title 28 times in the last 34 competitions.

Weed physiology professor Nilda Burgos, weed science professor Jason Norsworthy, and graduate students Christopher Rouse and Reiofeli Salas coached the U of A teams.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.